Article treating and plating apparatus



Jan.-12, 1960 c.w. JENKS ETAL ARTICLE TREATING AND PLATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1957 INVENTORSI 664m. w. (/E/VK' days/"4 .6. ML 5' 715/2 knew 2,921,009, I ARTICLE TREATING AND PLATING APPARATUS Carl W. Jenks, La Grange Park, and Joseph B. Niles, Elmwood Park,lll., assignors to The Stutz Company, Chicago, lll., a corporation of Illinois Application August 5, 1957, Serial No. 676,265

Claims. or. 204-213 This invention. relates. to certain new and useful improvements in mounting for a submergible plating apparatus wherein there is employed a rotatable cylinder or barrel within which the articles are placed and then submerged in a tank containing a solution for electroplatmg.

In the conventional apparatus of the character with which this invention is concerned, the barrel is supported for rotation about ahorizontal axis between spaced guide arms. These arms are formed as a part of an overheadstructure such as a crossbeam or hanger bar which in turn is-connected to a lifting apparatus through the medium of which the plating apparatus is lowered and raised from within submerged position in the tank. The barrel is suspended from the structure by means of belts which are passed over and around pulleys'provided at opposite ends of the barrel and over and around driving pulleys mounted on a shaft carried by the supporting structure. r Whenever it is found necessary to remove the barrel for repair work such as replacement of worn or broken parts or to replace the belts which rotate and suspend the barrel within the tank, it is necessary in the conventional treating and plating apparatus of the character with which this invention is concerned, to disassemble the entire apparatus in order to remove the barrel so as to replace and remove the belts.

Our invention has as a primary object the provision of a simple arrangement whereby the barrel may be removed without disassembling the entire apparatus and whereby the belts may be removed and replaced without removing the barrel or disassembling the barrel from the supporting'structure therefor, all without the use of tools or other implements.

In the conventional treating and plating apparatus, the end portions of the electric cables which lead into the barrel are of a loose construction such that when the barrel is' rotated, the ends of the cable will strike the cylindrical walls. of the barrel, with the result that, in addition to the impact caused by the cables through the centrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the barrel, the striking of these end portions of the cable against the walls of the barrel by the weight of the articles being treated results in damage to the walls of the barrel to the extent that the barrel is no longer useful for its intended purpose. t

It is another object of this invention to provide a simple arrangement for preventing the end portions of the cables from striking against the adjacent walls of the barrel.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The-invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing the preferred .form ofconstruetion, and in which:

' United States Patent 0 Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of an article treating and v I "ice 2. plating apparatus showing our improvements incorporated therein;

Fig. 2 is a typical end view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken substantially on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the hub structure of the barrel showing the parts thereof in exploded position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional detail view of the barrel of the apparatus;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional detail view showing a modified form of construction for joining the ends of the electric cables together.

The conventional article treating and plating apparatus of the type used for the purpose of electroplating articles within a solution contained in a tank, includes a hanger bar 10 from which are suspended parallelly extending spaced apart guide arms 11 between which a barrel 12 is arranged. The guide arms 11 at their upper end portions carry a shaft 13, adjacent the opposite ends of which are mounted pulleys 14 for rotation with the shaft 13.

On the end walls 26 of the barrel are pulleys 16 which have driving connection with the pulleys 14 by means of belts 17. It is by means of these belts 17 that the barrel 12 is suspended within a tank (not shown) containing the electroplating solution.

The barrel 12 has the usual door 18 by means of which the articles to be treated and plated are confined in the barrel, the side walls of the barrel being foraminatedto allow the passage of the solution into the barrel during the treating and plating operation.

Our invention has particularly to do with the construction of the guide arms 11 and the connection between these arms and the end walls of the barrel.

In this connection, the upper end portions of each of these guide arms 11 areformed substantially U-shaped to provide an inner extension 1 of which the bar 10 is connected in the manner shown at 20. This extension 19 is spaced from the upper end portion 21 of the arm 11 and forms together therewith a pulley pocket opening outwardly in a longitudinal direction from the arm 11. Within each pulley pocket is mounted on the shaft 13 the pulley 14. i

Should it be necessary or required that the belt 17 be repaired or replaced, this may be accomplished by simply elevating the barrel to its extreme upper position with respect to the arms 11, thereby providing a suflicient slack in the belt 17 to permit the same to be pulled over the upper end portion 21 of the arm 11 and thereby removed completely from the pulley 16 of the barrel. Inthis accomplishment it will be obvious that no tools were required to remove the belt 17 and that the belt 17 is removed from its connection with the pulley 16 and the pulley 14 by the simple operation of raising the barrel ,to its extreme upper position, thereby to provide sufiicient slack in the belt 17 to permit its easy removal over the upper end portion 21 of the arm 11.

Each end wall of the barrel is provided with a hub indicated generally at 22 and shown more particularly in detail in Figs. 4 and 5. Each hub is of similar construc tion. Each includes a ring 23, the inner parallel edge portion 24 of which is set into a recess 25 formed in the end wall 26 of the barrel. The ring 23 as Well as its associated parts to be hereinafter described, is formed of a suitable durable material usually plastic, capable of withstanding stress, wear, and deterioration when submerged in the solution in the tank.

Being formed of such material, the ring 23 is connected to the end wall 26 by cementing the same. within the recess 25 as at 25.

the collar 27 to rotate with the ring 23 when the barrel 12 is rotated.

Each of the arms 11 is provided with elongated slots 30. A guide block 31 has a bearing 32 about which the collar 27 and the ring 23 rotate when the barrel 12 is rotated. This guide block 31 has opposite corresponding sides reduced to provide relatively flat areas 33 and to reduce the diameter of the guide block between such fiat surfaces 33 to a dimension which will permit the guide block 31 to be passed through the slot l 30 formed in the arm 11, as hereinafter described.

The guide block 31 has laterally extending retaining flanges 34 at opposite corresponding sides as shown in Fig. 4, which are located between the under surface of the arm 11 and the collar 27, the distance between the edges 34 of which flanges is of a width less than ';he hwidth of the slot 30 for reasons hereinafter set ort I The outer end portion of the guide block 31 comprises a latch head 35 of rectangular formation and constituting two parallel grooves 36. A U-shaped latch pin 37 provides parallel latching fingers 38 adapted to snugly fit into the grooves 36 and thereby latch the guide block 31 with the flanges 34 disposed between the arm 11 and the collar 27. The fingers 38 of the latch pin 37 are of sufficient resiliency to permit them to frictionally engage within the grooves 36. The latch pin 37 is of a width suflicient to snugly fit within the slot 30 of the arm 11 and thereby to prevent turning of the latch pin and the guide block 31 during rotation of the barrel.

Should it be found necessary to remove the barrel 12 from between the arms 11, the latch pin 37 is removed from latched engagement with the latch head 35, after which the guide block 31 is manually rotated to dispose the flanges 34 in vertical registration with the slot 30, With the surfaces 3334' in vertical alignment with the vertical walls of the slot 30. in which position the guide block 30 may be passed through the slot 30 and disengaged from the collar 27, allowing the barrel 12 to be removed, it being understood that prior to this operation the belts 17 have been removed from the barrel in the manner described herein.

From the foregoing description read'in the light of the accompanying drawings it is apparent that both the belts 17 and the barrel 12 may be readily and quickly removed and this may be accomplished without the use of tools or other implements. In removing the belts 17, it is manifest that this operation may be accomplished without disassembling the barrel or removing the same from its guide arms 11. The shaft 13 at one end portion has a driven pinion 13'. In practice, the motor (not shown) is mounted on the hanger bar 10 and is geared with the pinion 13' to rotate the shaft 13. The cables through which the current is carried to the plating solution are indicated at 39 and are of the usual construction and in the present instance are carried by the arms 11 with their end portions connected to contact fingers 40, the latter being insulated by suitable insulators 40' from the arms ll. The contact fingers engage contact seats (not shown) provided by the tank within which the barrel is lowered. These cables 39 extend into the barrel through openings 41 formed in the guide block 31.

In order to prevent the. end portions of the cable within the barrel from striking against the adjacent walls of the barrel during its rotating operation, in the form shown in Fig. 6 we have joined the ends of the cable together by means of a conductor sleeve 42. V,

' ,In a modified form of construction (Fig. 7), we have provided a cable connector 43 which in turn has its end portions connected to the cables 39 by means of conductor sleeves 44. When connecting the end portions of the cables 39 together the length of the cables is such that the medial end portions will be spaced from the adjacent wall of the barrel. By such arrangement, when the barrel is rotated the cables are prevented from striking the sides of the barrel, thus preventing damage to the cables as well as the barrel and the articles being plated.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that we have provided an improvement in an apparatus for treating and plating material, which improvement will be highly etficient in use and economical in manufacture.

While we have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying our invention into eflect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. We therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail our selves of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An improvement in a mounting for a material treating and plating apparatus which has a barrel rotatably suspended between a pair of oppositely disposed guide arms depending from a hanger bar. with each of said arms having an elongated slot formed therein, comprising a hub for each of the end walls of the barrel, said hub including a ring having a portion recessed in and rotatable with said end wall, a wear collar mounted in said ring, a guide block mounted in said collar and having oppositely disposed flanges of a length greater than the width of the slot in said arm and having oppositely disposed parallel flat surfaces, the distance between said surfaces being less than the width of the slot, said flanges mounted between the ring and adjacent surface of the arm, said guide block having a latch head formed in its outer end portion, and a latch pin mounted on said latch head and of a width to fit within the slot of said arm to slidably mount said block to said arm while permitting rotation of said hub and barrel relative thereto.

2. An improvement in a mounting for a material treating and plating apparatus which has a barrel rotatably suspended between a pair of oppositely disposed guide arms depending from a hanger bar with each of said arms having an enlogated slot formed therein, comprising a hub for each of the end walls of the barrel, said hub including a ring having a portion. recessed in and rotatable with said end wall, a wear collar mounted in said ring, a guide block mounted in said collar and having oppositely disposed flanges of a length greater than the width of the slot in said arm and having oppositely disposed parallel flat surfaces, the distance between said surfaces being less than the width of the slot, said flanges mounted between the ring and adjacent the surface of the arm, said guide block having a latch head formed in its outer end portion, a latch pin mounted on said'latch head and of a width to fit within the slot of said arm to slidably mount said block to said arm while permitting rotation of said hub and barrel relative thereto, and said latch pin being substantially U-shaped to provide oppositely disposed resilient fingers for engagement with said latch head. I 3. An improvement in a mounting for a'material treating and plating apparatus which has a barrel rotatably suspended between a pair of oppositely disposed guide arms depending from a hanger bar with each of said arms having an enlogated slot formed therein, comprising a hub for each of the end walls of the barrel, said hub including a ring havinga portion recessed in and rotatable with said end wall, a wear collar mounted in said ring, a guide block mounted in said collar and having oppositely disposed flanges of a length greater than the width of the slot in'said armand having oppositely disposed parallel flat surfaces, the distance between said surfaces being less than the width of the slot, said flanges mounted between the ring and adjacent surfaces of the arm, said guide block having a latch head formed in its outer end portion, a latch pin mounted on said latch head and of a width to fit within the slot of said arm to slidably mount said block to said arm while permitting rotation of said hub and barrel relative thereto, said latch pin being substantially U-shaped to provide oppositely disposed resilient fingers for engagement with' said latch head, and said latch head having oppositely'disposed grooves formed therein to receive said fingers.

4. An improvement in a mounting for a material treating and plating apparatus which has a barrel rotatably suspended between a pair of oppositely disposed guide arms depending from a hanger bar with each of said arms having an elongated slot formed therein, comprising a hub for each of the end walls of the barrel, said hub including a ring having a portion recessed in and rotatable with said end wall, a wear collar mounted in said ring, said collar being split and said ring providing a lug disposed between the ends of said collar when said collar is mounted in said ring, a guide block mounted in said collar and having oppositely disposed flanges of a length greater than the width of the slot in said arm and having oppositely disposed parallel flat surfaces, the distance between said surfaces being less than the width of the slot, said flanges mounted between the ring and adjacent surface of the arm, said guide block having a latch head formed in its outer end portion, a latch pin mounted on said latch head and of a width to fit within the slot of said arm to slidably mount said block to said arm while permitting rotation of said hub and barrel relative thereto and said latch pin being substantially U-shaped to provide oppositely disposed resilient fingers for engagement with said latch head.

5. An improvement in a mounting for a material treating and plating apparatus which has a barrel rotatably suspended between a pair of oppositely disposed guide arms depending from a hanger bar with each of said arms having an elongated slot formed therein, comprising a hub for each of the end walls of the barrel, said hub including a ring having a portion recessed in and rotatable with said end wall, a wear collar mounted in said ring, said collar being split and said ring providing a lug disposed between the ends of said collar when said collar .is mounted in said ring, a guide block mounted in said collar and having oppositely disposed flanges of a length greater than the width of the slot in said arm and having oppositely disposed parallel flat surfaces, the distance between said fiat surfaces being less than the width of the slot, said flanges mounted between the ring and adjacent surfaces of the arm, said guide block having a latch head formed in its outer end portion, a latch pin mounted on said latch head and of a width to fit within the slot of said arm to slidably mount said block to said arm while permitting rotation of said hub and barrel relative thereto, said latch pin being substantially U- shaped to provide oppositely disposed resilient fingers for engagement with said latch head, and said latch head having oppositely disposed grooves formed therein to receive said fingers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. AN IMPROVEMENT IN A MOUNTING FOR A MATERIAL TREATING AND PLATING APPARATUS WHICH HAS A BARREL ROTATABLY SUSPENDED BETWEEN A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY DISPOSED GUIDE ARMS DEPENDING FROM A HANGER BAR WITH EACH OF SAID ARMS HAVING AN ELONGATED SLOT FORMED THEREIN, COMPRISING A HUB FOR EACH OF THE END WALLS OF THE BARREL, SAID HUB INCLUDING A RING HAVING A PORTION RECESSED IN AND ROTATABLE WITH SAID END WALL, A WEAR COLLAR MOUNTED IN SAID RING, A GUIDE BLOCK MOUNTED IN SAID COLLAR AND HAVING OPPOSITELY DISPOSED FLANGES OF A LENGTH GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF THE SLOT IN SAID ARM AND HAVING OPPOSITELY 